Yogi 2.0 boosting horticultural crops to spur farm income

Lucknow

The Uttar Pradesh (UP) government will set up centres of excellence (CoEs) and mini-CoEs/hi-tech nurseries in all 75 districts to boost the horticulture and food processing industry.

The state is targeting to increase the acreage of the horticultural crops to 16 per cent over the next five years as part of the overarching plan to double farm income through the promotion of agriculture and allied sectors.

While hi-tech nurseries at Bahraich, Ambedkar Nagar, Mau, Fatehpur, Aligarh, Rampur and Hapur districts have already become operational, CoEs are being built at Chandauli, Kaushambi, Saharanpur, Lucknow and Kushinagar.

Meanwhile, Indo-Israel CoEs have been established in Basti and Kannauj districts dedicated to fruits and vegetables respectively.

Moreover, mini CoE/hi-tech nurseries are under construction at Sonbhadra, Moradabad, Agra, Sant Kabir Nagar, Mahoba, Jhansi, Barabanki, Lucknow, Chandauli, Gonda, Balrampur, Badaun, Firozabad, Shamli and Mirzapur districts.

“The government has set an ambitious target to increase the area of cultivation of horticultural crops from 11.6 percent to 16 percent for higher yield as well as promoting the processing of fruits, vegetables and spices,” a senior official said here.

The government is looking at producing good-quality saplings and seeds at these CoEs. The objective behind the move is to facilitate a bumper harvest to feed the growing number of food processing industries.

UP has witnessed an increase of 0.7 percent in the production of fruits and vegetables in the last five years due to the expansion of its cultivation in an additional 100,000 hectares.

Noted vegetable scientist Dr SP Singh said the most effective way to increase the farm income is through the cultivation of all kinds of fruits, vegetables and spices as UP is endowed with 9 types of agro-climatic zones.

“Small and marginal farmers, who constitute 90 per cent of the total number of farmers, can play a vital role by growing a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and flowers in suitable climates,” he noted.

He said that most farmers were at present engaged in the cultivation of traditional crops like paddy, wheat and sugarcane; however, they need to be encouraged to grow fruits, vegetables and flowers for greater financial benefits.

Moreover, the Yogi Adityanath government is promoting protected farming through Indo-Israel technology to grow off-season vegetables.

In the last five years, poly houses/shed-nets have been expanded over 177 hectares to enhance the yield of flowers and vegetables, thus benefiting 5,549 farmers.